Wood-splitting machine.



PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907. P. EGKBNROTH, J11.

WOOD SPLITTING MACHINE.

I APPLIOATION FILED mm: 28. 1907.

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No. 873,418. PATENTED DEC. 10 1901' P. EGKENROTH, JR-

WOOD SPLITTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 28. 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

P. ECKBNROTH, (In. WOOD SPLITTING MACHINE.

- APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 28 1907.

PATBNTED DEG. 10, 1-907.

P. EGKENROTH; JR.

WOOD SPLITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION III-ED JUNE 28. 1907.

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PHILIP EOKEN ROTH,

JR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

WOOD-SPLITTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed June 28. 1907. Serial No. 381.273.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, PHILIP ECKENROTH, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Wood-Splitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a machine for longitudinally splitting logs, such for example, as are used in the manufacture of paper pulp, which machine shall have its various parts so arranged that the resulting device shall be more practical and will more satisfactorily perform its work than has hitherto been possible with maohines of the same class.

It is also desired to provide a wood splitting machine with an adjustable knife so constructed and arranged that it shall be firmly held and locked in any adjusted position and yet be capable of being rapidly moved to a new position in order to properly engage logs of different diameters.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of 'the general character above noted, with means for preventing injury to the actuating cylinder or its associated parts by the main piston.

These and other advantageous ends I attain as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1, is a side elevation of my improved splitting machine; Fig. 2, is a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, 1s an elevation of the right hand end of the ma chine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, is a vertical section taken on the line 44 Fig. 1 Fig. 5, is a perspective view of the splitting knife and its associated parts Fig. 6, is a plan of the interior of the casing for the valve which ,controls the admission of steam to the knife adjusting cylinder; Fig. 7, is a perspective view of the valve preferably employed for controlling the admission of motive fluid to the knife adjusting cylinder; Fig. 8, is a vertical section of the valve shown in Fig. 7, with its inclosing casing; Fig. 9, is an elevation of one of the heads for the main cylinder of my machine; Fig. 10, is a vertical section further illustrating the cylinder head shown in Fig. 9, Figs. 11 and 12, are res ectively a side elevation and an inverted p an of one form of the device for locking the piston rod of the knife adjusting cylinder and therefor the knife, in any adjusted position; Figs. 13'

guides a and a and 14, are respectively an end and a side elevation (the latter partly in section), of a modified form of the knife holding means, and Fig. 15, is a perspective view illustrating the preferred arrangement and construction of certain of the valve mechanism employed in connection with my invention.

In the above drawings, the main frame A of my improved machine consists of two relatively long members a and a, preferably formed of structural sections having fastened between them near one end a number of castings a either integral with or ri idly attached to, a steam cylinder B. T e opposite ends of the members a and a are rigidly attached to the free ends of a frame a which consists of a substantially E-shaped casting. From Figs. 2 to 4, it will be noted that this casting a is held to the members a, and a, and the whole structure reinforced by two pairs of longitudinally extending bolts a each pair of which has at the cylinder ends of the members a and 0,, plates a engaging the adj acent ends of the said frame sections While their opposite ends extend beyond said sec tions into the overhung ends of the casting a The steam cylinder B is provided with a piston (not shown) to which is connected a piston rod I) having a head 1) operating upon respectively mounted on the inside faces of the members a and a. This head I) is provided with an arm 6 projecting from one of its sides and-serving as a cam for a purpose hereinafter noted. The main vertical portion of the casting a is formed as a guide for a knife C, which, in the present instance, consists of two cutting structures 0 and c crossing each other at right angles. The knife itself is recessed to slide upon the guide portion of the structure a and is held in position thereon by means of a cover plate 6 From Fig. ,5, it will be noted that the ortions of the knife structure extending a ong the sides of the guide do not quitereach to the edge of the rear face thereof, so that the cover plate 0 which engages this rear face, overhangs the said portions of the knife structure without being in contact with them. Said plate is, however, held to the knife structure by means of a series of bolts 0 of such a length as to permit of their carrying a series of springs c which are confined between washers under their heads and the face of said cover late 0 As a result of this arrangement, t ere is considerable friction between the knife structure with its cover plate and the guide portion of the casting a and for the purpose of moving the knife I mount on the upper portion of said casting a steam cylinder D, having a piston (not shown) to which is connected a piston rod d attached to the top of the knife in any desired manner. In order to control the position of the piston within the cylinder D, I provide a rotary valve (1 within a valve chest d pand from Figs. 6 to 8 inclusive it Will be seen that there are two ports (1 and d opening within the valve casing and leading respectively to the opposite ends of the cylinder D. There also opens upon the same surface as that having the ports d and (1 an exhaust port (i The valve (1 is mounted upon a rotatable valve rod (1 and has in it two recesses 01 either of which is capable of connecting one of the steam ports with the exhaust port when the valve has been suitably moved by turning the valve rod (1. It will, moreover, be noted that when the valve is in its mid position, both of the steam ports are open, so that under normal conditions both sides of the piston in the cylinder D are acted upon by the operating fluid. The turning of the valve from its mid position cuts off the supply of fluid to one of the ports and connects said port to the exhaust, so that the pressure on the piston in cylinder D is unbalanced and it is consequently moved, together with the knife structure C.

In Figs. 11 and 12, I have shown in detail one device for rigidly holding or locking the piston rod d, and therefore the knife structure C, in any given position. In said figures, G represents a plate or a suitable easting held to the under side of the upper member of the frame a by means of bolts g. This plate or casting is provided with overhanging portions g arranged to serve as guideways for two slidableblooks g and is so mounted that the piston rod (1 passes between said blocks, whose adjacent edges are provided with a series of curved teeth designed to cooperate with a series of collars (i on the piston rod (1 and also serving as teeth. For the purpose of sliding the blocks 9 into and out of engagement with these latter collars, I pivotally mount on one of them an arm 9 and to this arm pivot one arm 9 of a bell crank lever which is mounted on extensions of the plate or casting G. The two arms g of each of these levers I operatively connect to a longitudinally movable bar 9 and also provide a spring-actuated plunger g placed to act upon'the arm 9 of one of said levers so as to tend to maintain the various parts of the device in the positions illustrated in Fig. 12-that iswith the teeth of the two blocks 9 in engagement with the collars of the piston rod g. The main steam cylinder B is provided with a valve chest b having within it any desired form of valve capable of being operated by means of a hand lever 1).

This valve chest is connected through pipes 12 and I) to opposite ends of the main cylinder B and there is interposed in said latter pipe a stop valve 0. Between said stop valve and the adjacent end of the cylinder is connected a pipe e leading through a second stop valve 6 direct to the source of live steam. A device is provided for automatically operating the valves 6 and c" to simultaneously open one and close the other whenever the head I) is moved. beyond a predetermined point on its guides. For this purpose a bar a is mounted on the member (1/ adjacent to the casting a, and this bar is connected through a rod a with a pair of rigidly connected operating levers 0. These are so fulcrumed to the valves 0 and c I'OSPGCtlYOlY, that longitudinal movement of the rod 0" toward the knife will close the valve e and open the valve 0 while the reverse movement of said rod will cause opening of the valve 0 and closing of the valve e. A spring a" tends to maintain the bar a in a position corresponding to the closed condition of the valve e For convenience I attach the arm d to the valve rod (1 of the cylinder D and from this run an operating rod d" to the vicinity of the valve operating lever b of the cylinder B.

In order to diminish the liability to damage in the event of the piston in the cylinder B striking the forward end thereof, 1 not only provide extra reinforcing means for holding said head in position, but place on the inside of the head a number of cushion springs f so that these will be struck and necessarily compressed by the piston before it can strike the head 1 itself. 'lhis head has in addition to the flangej" hereby it is bolted to the cylinder, a pair of transversely projecting lugsf extending to the rear of the cylinder B, so as to engage a heavy bar f placed across the opposite head of said cylinder. The springs f are preferably each held in place by a boltf extending through it and provided with a Ilanged eapf fitting into and tending to support its outer end.

Under operating conditions a log to be split is placed as indicated at G, so that it rests upon the lower guides a In, order to bring the knife in position so that it will properly engage the log, I first move the rod g in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 12, thereby breaking the toggles formed by the two pairs of arms 9 and g" and consequently sliding the blocks 9" in their guides so that their teeth will disengage the piston rod (Z. By longitudinal movement of the rod (1 the valve (1 is made to connect one of its ports (1 or d with the exhaust, and this, by overbalancing the pressure on the piston in the cylinder D, causes said piston to move and with it the knife structure C, until this latter occupies the position with the point of intersection of its two knife edges 0 and c in the center line of the log to be split. When such position has been reached, the valve d is again turned to its mid position and by the proper movement of the rod 9 and its associated parts, the piston, and with it the knife structure, is immovably held in such position. By proper manipulation of the hand lever 6 steam is admitted to the rear end of the cylinder B, with the result that the head 6 is driven forward into engagement with the rear end of the log G, forcing it toward the knife structure C and in the present instance, splitting it into four sections. It is to be noticedthat by reason of the general construction and design of the machine, these pieces will be deposited at some distance in front of the knife C, completely out of the way of the machine and its operator.

If the operator should not move the valve in the chest 6 so as to cut off the supply of steam to the cylinder B at the proper time, the piston would ordinarily be apt to do some damage to the. cylinder or itself by striking the forward end thereof, but I pre- Vent this because the cam carried by the head I) strikes the bar a thereby moving the rod e towards the knife structure. As heretofore explained, such movement of the rod closes the valve 6 and opens the valve e thereby providing an immediate su ply of live steam at boiler pressure to the forward end of the cylinder B, so that not only is any forward movement of the head I) and therefore of the piston prevented, but there may even be a tendency to start said piston and its connected parts toward the rear end of the cylinder. This latter operation, however, is regulated by the position of the valve in the chest 5 It will be noted that the cam 12 is of such shape as to not only move the bar a to 0 en the valve a but is arranged to hold said ar in its new position until the rearward movement of the head has caused the cam b to be disengaged by said bar. This arrangement will generally insure the stopping of the forward movement of the piston, though should it have been moving at a high velocity, it might come in engagement with the caps f in which case the cushion springs would serve as buffers and efiectually bring said piston to rest.

In Figs. 13 and 14, I have shown a possible modification of the device for looking or positively holding the knife structure C in any adjusted position, and in such case, I replace the plate 0 by which the said knife structure is properly held in position on the frame if, by a plate 0 so formed as to provide a guideway for the rece tion of a sliding block h. To one end of this block I attach one end of a lever h, fulcrumed at h to a bracket carried by the plate a", and on the opposite end of said block I provide a number of teeth 71, In a suitable recess in the frame a I mount a block h in whose outer face are formed a number of teeth designed to co-act with the teeth 7L3. tuated plunger h normally tends to force the lever h into such a position as to cause the teeth 72, of the sliding block to engage with the teeth of the piece 77, carried by the frame. It is obvious that before the knife structure can move, the lever it must be so operated as to cause the teeth of the block to disengage those of the frame a and similarly, when the knife structure has been brought to any desired position, the lever h is released so that the teeth of the block it are at once caused to engage the teeth of the piece it to lock the knife against possible movement. If desired, this device may be substituted for that shown in Figs. 11 and 12, as it is obvious that the teeth of the block h and the teeth h are the full equivalents of the teeth formed by the collars (Z on the piston rod (1 and the A spring ac-- sets of'recesses or teeth formed on the blocks g I claim as my invention 1. The-combination of an operating cylinder, a movable'head actuated by a piston in said cylinder, a guide for supporting logs to be split, a knife structure having two intersecting blades for splitting the logs, and means for adjusting the said knife structure to cause the point of intersection of the knife blades to strike the centers of logs of varying dimensions, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a frame having a guideway, a head movable thereon, means for forcing said head against a log mounted in the guideway, a knife structure having intersecting blades, a guide on the frame for said knife structure, and means for moving and positively holding said knife upon its guide to bring the point of intersection of its blades into line with the centers of logs of varying dimensions, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a frame having a head for engaging one end of a log, means for operating the head, a guide extending in a line substantially at right angles to the line of -movement of the head, a knife structure slidable upon said guide, means for moving said knife structure, and means for creating friction between its knife structure and the guide, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a frame having a head for engaging one end of a log, a guide, a knife for splitting logs movably mounted on said guide, means for forcin said head toward the knife to split the 0g, a cylinder having a piston connected to the knife structure for adjusting the same upon the guide, and means tending to retard movement of said knife structure upon the guide, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a frame having a head for engaging one end of a log, a guide, a knife for splitting logs movably mounted on &

said guide, means for forcing said head towards the knife to split the log, a cylinder having a piston connected to the knife structure for adjusting the same upon the guide, a structure attached to the knife structure, with means for pressing said two structures together to cause them to exert friction against the guide and thereby retard the movement of the knife structure thereon, substantially as described.

6. The combination in a splitting machine of a frame having guides and a knife structure movable thereon, a head, a cylinder having a piston connected to the head for forcing the same toward the knife structure, and means for adjusting the position of said knife structure on its guides, said means including a cylinder, a piston therein connected to the knife structure, and a valve for controlling the admission of steam to the cylinder, said valve being constructed to supply steam under full pressure to both ends of the cylinder under normal conditions, substantially as described.

7. The combination in a wood splitting machine, of a frame a knife structure movably mounted thereon, a head, a cylinder having a piston connected to the head for forcing a log toward the knife structure, a

second cylinder, a piston therein operatively connected to the knife structure, a valve chest in the cylinder provided with ports leading to both ends of said cylinder and also having an exhaust port, with a valve operative in the chest, said valve being constructed to simultaneously uncover both of the cylinder ports, or to connect one of them to the exhaust port while the other is supplied with live steam, substantially as described.

8. A splitting machine having an operating cylinder, a movable head actuated by a piston in said cylinder, a knife structure for splitting logs, means for adjusting the knife structure transversely of the line of action. of the piston to permit it to operate on logs of varying dimensions, and means independent of the adjusting means for positively locking the knife structure in any adjusted position, substantially as described.

9. A splitting machine having an operating cylinder, a movable head actuated by a piston in said cylinder, a knife structure for splitting logs, means for adjusting the knife structure to permit it to operate on logs of varying dimensions, a toothed structure carried by the knife, a piece also having teeth carried by the frame, and means for causing one set of teeth to engage the other to lock the knife in any adjusted position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PHILIP EOKENRO'III, JR.

Witnesses:

GEO. SULLIVAN, J. ARTHUR HAYEs. 

